JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum I Will Stand By You

Hi Everybody,

Just testing this out as I have just joined the forum. Want to see if I know how to work this thing. This is a new song called I Will Stand By You. It has a few spots I fixed in the master, but the first version is ok for Soundcloud I guess. Hope you like it.

https://soundcloud.com/davidsnyderchannel/i-will-stand-by-you

I Will Stand By You

By David Snyder

V1

Sometimes in life
It’s a fact
The whole world
turns its back on you
It happens to all of us
Once in a while
It’s just a test that we go through
But if you ask me what I have been taught
If you ask me what my faith has bought
I can tell you that these words are true
It’s the only thing that I know how to do

CH:

I will stand by you
I will stand by you
All the way to the top of the hill
Where the sky has grown dark and still
Where the hillside is littered with nails
And they separate lies from the truth
I will do what I came to do
And I will stand by you

V2

They say I don’t act like a king
But to some people I am every thing
I’m the only reason they have to sing
And I’m the reason why their church bells ring
Everybody has their moment of truth
And I’ve never failed to offer the proof
Cause I tell the mountains to move
And no matter what this world will do
I will stand by you

CH:

I will stand by you
I will stand by you
All the way to the top of the hill
Where the sky has grown dark and still
Where the hillside is littered with nails
And they separate lies from the truth
I will do what I came to do
And I will stand by you

Interlude

All the way to the top of the hill
Where the sky has grown dark and still
Where the hillside is littered with nails
And they separate lies from the truth
I will do what I came to do
And I will stand by you
l will stand by you

All music and lyrics copyright 2017 by David Snyder/Day of Faith Records/ASCAP

Written and Performed by David Snyder

David Snyder, Composer, Author
Singer-Songwriter, Producer
NC Chapter Coordinator, NSAI
www.davidsnydermusic.com

Hi David:

First, "Welcome to JPF"... where I hope you will find great advice and friends to share your music. I really enjoyed my listen and found the work inspiring and refreshing in these troubled times. I've observed over the years that great songs can work well in different styles... and, being the ever curious songwriter that I am... wondered how well this would work with a choral group or at least a choral backing here and there? Nothing wrong with what you brought us... you write and sing well... and I believe you have created a song for the ages.

Best of luck with "I Will Stand By You"... and with your musical creations. ----Dave Rice

Thanks Dave! I really appreciate that! I think the song could very well use choral backing or any number of other arrangements, just as you have suggested.

When I write a song, most of the time I try and go for the "minimally viable product" approach because sometimes people ask if they can cover my stuff, so I want to leave lots of room for them to explore and do their own thing.

In this one, I was just laying out the very barest bones, which is a song that can completely convey everything here with just an acoustic and a voice if you have to. It's what Keith Richards says his test of a radio ready song always is, and I have a slight hunch he knows what he is talking about.*

Thanks so much for the feedback!!!



* "If you can't walk out there on stage all by yourself with just an acoustic guitar and sit on a stool and sing into a mic and bring 50,000 people to their feet it's not rock and roll."
--Keith Richards

Hi again, David:

Love the expression, "Minimally Viable Product"... and that is a great objective for 90% of all song-writers and vocalists of all stripes. Too many publishers and labels refuse to understand that songwriter's can only "pull the train" so far. Limited resources and even more limited opportunities make our musical efforts an exercise in futility. Most of us are hobbyists because of these obstacles... and create then record our work because we love it.

Thanks for responding to my comment and your point is well taken. You're going to enjoy it here. Regards, ----Dave

Liked the music and your style of singing. The lyric was well written, but a couple of things bothered me. Rather than "bought" (which has a negative connotation to me) I'd suggest "brought".
I didn't care for lines 3-4 and 7 in V2 as I didn't think they suited the direction of the song.
All in all good stuff!
-Mike

Hi Again Dave,

I am going to hit the ball back over the net. Because of my coordinator status in a pretty famous songwriters group, I have been in a few pitch to publisher sessions, and observed a lot of what gets "picked" by publishers, labels and A&R managers to ponder and think about in case they want to sign that person as a writer. 99.99999999% of the time it is a person and a song with a well played guitar part, an awesome lyric and a phenomenal vocal. Just those three things. Two tracks.

What NEVER gets picked (and what gets turned off in two seconds) is the $5,000 demo and the fancy solo at the beginning. NOT.

I am serious. I think a lot of people don't realize you don't need a lot of stuff--even to please the vast majority of listeners and maximize your chances. Get a really good guitar or piano, a great mic, a vocal booth or vocal shield for your mic stand, a nice DAW setup, the basic effects and mastering tools from Izotope or IK Multimedia and you're off to the races. If you can't sing all that well, ask a friend with an angelic voice over, get her to sing it and then take her out to Starbucks later.

No studio owner or self-proclaimed producer will tell you that, but at the high end of the spectrum, the people who run labels and publishing houses are just looking for phenomenal lyrics, phenomenal catchiness, great dynamics (rising chorus and a good build to the chorus), great energy, and great vocals. And two tracks. Anything else is distracting to them. Really.

People drive themselves insane with a fortune spent on expensive demos when most publishers want two tracks. They will figure out how to produce it if they sign you or pass your song on to an artist. They just want the song. People who tell you the demo has to sound as good as what's going to get cut are flat out wrong. They probably just want your money. That is not how it works. Great melodies, great chord progressions, great lyrics. Oddly enough, that's what the pros are looking for. They feel like they can take it from there, if you are a songwriter.

I think the vast majority of listeners aside from techno stuff are looking for simple too. That's what I've seen.

AMEN.....

Dear 9ne, Thanks for the feedback!!

Love it! Great, inspiring lyric. Man, I would really dig hearing Springsteen do this.

Welcome to the forum

Scott

David,

I really like the guitar work here; strong vocal. Scott nailed it--sounds like a Springsteen tune; could easily hear him do this one. If you take another shot at recording this one, consider tuning it down a half key. I think it may compliment your voice more to dial it down on the high range--just my opinion and something for you to mess around with if you want. Lyrically, everything works--though maybe revisit the first four lines of the second verse, which to me, IMHO, don't seem quite as connected. But it's all nits and tweaks--this is a cool, cool tune. Nicely done, David--and welcome to JPF!

Best regards,

Deej

Hi David,

Beautiful song. I hear some Dylan-love in your vocal phrasing and love that about it. I could also hear a Gospel choir kinda thing and I think it's cuz the song has a bit of Gospel effect from your phrasing and its soulfullness--and then the repetition of the title, that's a nice Van Morrison-y combo.

Cool arrangement as well; orchestrated more than I was expecting given your reply to Dave..

Great work and nice to meet you!

Mike

Thanks so much Deej. I will give that half step suggestion a whirl and see how it works.

I really appreciate your close listen and your kind words.

Cheers!

Thanks Michael! I really appreciate the kind words!

I see from your profile that you are a pro user of BIAB. I just left a response on your other thread about that.

That was a very helpful post!

Hey, you ought to log in to the BIAB forum and spend some time on the beginner's forum I helped to create. The newbies have about 1,000 questions you could help them out with. It could be a full time job.

I loved this song. I'm not a very religious person, but I'm touched by simple heart-felt expressions of faith. I don't really think there's anything I would change. As others have suggested, it could certainly have some choral backing in the chorus, but it doesn't need it.

I entirely agree with your "minimally viable product" approach. Indeed I think it goes beyond demos to finished songs. Much of what we hear today is over-produced, maybe because it lacks melody and meaningful lyrics. If you have those, less is often more and sometimes a single voice singing from the heart beats the crap out of multi-layered vocals and unnecessary effects.

Nicely done David.
I like the style and energy of the performance.

Reminds me a bit of Springsteen's live version of "Mansion on the Hill".

nice work David, I made it to your website, enjoyed other songs listed there too. Lane

Well, it's a small world! I had just finished posting to this thread when Facebook served up a list of a few "people you might know," and you were the first name on it, David. At least I'm pretty sure it's the same David Snyder. At first I thought Facebook's data tentacles and algorithm cruncher had somehow manged to digest a single post at JPF, which would be almost as scary as it would be impressive, but I think it was just coincidence, based on the fact that we have one Facebook friend in common, Allen Finley in Hickory. Weird when these things happen.

Thanks you Scott! Sorry for the late reply. I thought I had responded but I guess I didn't. I appreciate the kind words!

I really have been enjoying your tunes well!

Thanks Gavin,

I really appreciate your feedback! I think songs don't have to smash you over the head to have meaning!



Thanks again for the very kind and thoughtful response.

Thanks Nelson! I love that Mansion on the Hill song, so you just made my day. Thanks so much for the feedback!

Thanks Lane!! That was so nice of you to visit my website! I appreciate it man!

II look forward to getting to know your tunes as well!!!

Hey Again Gavin,

Well we are both from North Carolina, and I am the coordinator of the Nashville Songwriters Association here, so I imagine we are on a lot of the same facebook pages, though I don't ever mess with mine. I have a friend who is doing all of that for me in exchange for songwriting help.

It's a fair trade to me!!!!

"I Will Stand By You' is a very strong title and you did a really good job in bringing the message across too David. I enjoyed the listen.

Irwin

Dylan-esque

Enjoyed the build and the raw human quality.

Martin

Thank you Irwin! I really appreciate that! That was very kind of you!

I look forward to getting to know your music this year as well!

Thanks so much!

Thank you Martin! I really appreciate that!!

It did make me think of Dylan. I liked it.
For me though a little too much going on instrument wise. Good though.

Vic

Hey David,

This was cool and yeah, a bit Dylanesk for sure, but I think that is a good thing! I have one small sug, and certainly not a nit--if you take this back into production, maybe try and sing the end of the first verse a little "tamer" allowing the song to "build" more gradual by letting the chorus have and launch the strong vocal emotional exclamations--especially the first time before the chorus. You may need to let the last two lines of the verse be as expressive however to launch, but keep the preceding two less dramatic. Your verse endings work as a launching type PC, which is cool, but don't let them compete "too" much or steal the thunder from the chorus, keeping the chorus more climactic. Just food for thought, and certainly JMO.

Great write, with potential & I enjoyed this!

steady-eddie

Hello David,

Nice to meet you & WELCOME to JPF.

W o W........this song is really nice !


I especially loved this part.........

Where the hillside is littered with nails
And they separate lies from the truth



Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Thanks you Vic. I am really glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks Eddie, really appreciate that feedback!

Thank you Vic. I am really glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you Calvin! That really made my day! I am so glad you liked it!

David,

Very nice! I couldn't stop listening to it. Very easy on the ear. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Paul

Thanks Paul! Coming from a Nashville guy, that means a lot to me. Thank you so much!

Thanks everybody! I got the little burning flame thing. How fun. Thanks for the listens!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hi David,

I think the vocal performance has the conviction behind the inspiration in the words. I like the gentle melody, kind of soothing in a way. I think the following lines are especially vivid and get the point across very well:

Where the hillside is littered with nails
And they separate lies from the truth

Never enough inspiring songs around! Nice job!

Kristi

Good song David very much in the Byrds mould
Enjoyed it
Travis

Thank you Kristi! It was so sweet of you to say that. Thanks so much!

I also just listened to your new song. It is fabulous!!

Hey David, this came up on our playlist yesterday so I thought I'd check in and see if you'd posted it over here. Cool that you did. It's one of our favs.

J&B

Thanks J&B,

I sure have been enjoying your tunes on here! Happy Easter!

Thought I had been here... you know I like this...

So good. One of your best!

fj

Hi, David...

Lovely piece of music! Keep up the good work!

malin

I enjoyed the listen Great mixI struggle to get a great sound like you have achieved